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The Big Nap
"The Big Nap" is the fourth story in Haunted Mansion #2. It was written by John "Bean" Hastings and illustrated by Jon Morris. It stars Gus, the short, bearded prisoner of the Hitchhiking Ghosts, and explains how his spirit came to reside in the mansion, though the comic is presented without spoken dialogue. Synopsis Gus is a shepherd with a problem: he can't get a moment's rest due to the constant bleating of his flock! Day and night, the noise of the sheep keeps him from sleeping. One day, when the sheep quiet for a moment, Gus takes the opportunity to take a quick nap, and dreams he is in a Elysian scene, where a woman in a toga feeds him grapes. All is going well until the women suddenly "baas" loudly in his ear, and he starts awake to find a sheep right in his face. Gus throws a fit, this being the final straw. He breaks his crook over his knee and chases the sheep around the meadow, only the attract the ire of a ram. The ram hit Gus and sends him flying into the stomach of a well-to-do gentleman as he takes a walk with his lady...as well as an entoruage of armed soldiers. The man is outraged, and has a confused Gus thrown in a jail cell. The relative quiet of the cell is actually a relief to Gus, and he plops down on a bed of straw to sleep. No sooner has he dozed off than a cannon ball smashes through the wall. He jumps through the hole as several more balls smash into the building, and finds himself caught in the midst of a battle - on one side a garrison of soldiers; the other a band of marauding pirates! With few other options, Gus takes the ball shackled to him and loads it into a cannon, which he then lights and fires, sending him flying away over the sea. He lands in one of the lifeboats hanging from the pirates' ship and hurridly rows away as the fort and the pirate ship exchange cannon volleys (a not-so-subtle homage to Pirates of the Caribbean). Some time later (presumably), Gus is adrift at sea, lost and weary. A passing seabird catches his attention, and he spots a tiny tropical island not far away. Overjoyed, he accidently drops his ball and chain, which punches a hole in the boat and sinks it, taking him with it. His ghost trudges sadly out of the ocean and onto the shore of the island. There, he is met by a ghoulish figure that tips his hat (and his head) to Gus in greeting before showing him a flier inviting all ghosts and restless spirits to come and stay at Gracey Manor. Gus arrives with his ghostly guide and is offered a room with a bed. Gus immediately dives into it and goes to sleep. But his rest in peace is quickly broken by the sounds of a revelry. Seeing that there is an eternal noisy party going on among his fellow ghosts, Gus defeatedly heads outside, where he joins Phineas and Ezra in trying to catch a ride away from the mansion. Category:Comics